Time to smell soccer money fast like the Americans

The presence of President Donald Trump in the closing ceremony of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Club World Cup that pitted Chelsea FC against PSG St Germain was not a random event. It was more than the United States (US) hosting the FIFA World Cup next year.  

Most Kenyans watched the match.

The presence of an English Premier League team Chelsea must have attracted lots of Kenyans.

We have a cultic obsession with English Premier League teams. Every Kenyan, including women now “own” a Premier League team. Who owns Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards, and Sofapaka, among others? That is not surprising.

We have no such teams or facilities to nurture them. But let us not beat ourselves too hard.

The English teams have been there for a long time; Chelsea was founded in 1905, Liverpool in 1992 and Arsenal in 1882. Check the birthday of your favourite team.  The presence of President Trump is perhaps the best indicator that Americans can smell money in soccer. It’s a different game compared with American football, itself a variant of rugby.

Americans took great efforts to differentiate themselves from the English.

They keep right on the road, switch up, first floor is ground floor, use miles, and gallons. Use different plugs and even English.

Was it a backlash against colonialism or just a way to protect the home market? Why should the US smell the money in soccer? Because it’s there! In the 2024/5 season, Liverpool, the Premier League winner, earned $234 million, a cool Sh30 billion. That’s one team!

Before we get mesmerised by money, let’s remember that the majority of English Premier League teams have some American ownership. Donald Trump’s presence was just confirming that. Forget Middle Easterners for now.

It gets more interesting, Manchester United is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Any Kenyan who owns its shares? When are we floating Kenyan teams in an initial public offering (IPO)? Where does the money in soccer come from? One key source is broadcasting rights, often sold in an auction.

As you watch that match in a sports bar, someone is making more money from the rights to broadcast these matches! Should I add from the drink you are taking, unlikely to be uji.

The match day ticket sales are another source, with drinks, food and merchandise on sale, we still want to watch matches live. And it’s not cheap, with prices dependent on demand.

Popular matches are more costly. I checked online; a Man U vs Man City ticket on January 17, 2026, costs £249 (Sh43,000) - a small cow. Another game against Sunderland on October 4, 2025, is only £169 (Sh29,000).

You are smelling money or coffee? The more successful a team is, the more fans want to watch it online and live, and the more money the team and its owners make. Success begets success in football.

A curious source of money in soccer is selling players! If a club can spot talents and develop it, it can make huge profits. Remember Neymar’s €222 million transfer from Barcelona to PSG (2017)? That was Sh33.3 billion, still unmatched. 

There is lots of money in selling branded team merchandise like caps and R-shirts. I once visited the ManU store, but not as a fan. Any lessons for Kenya?

The French World Cup team has lots of players who look like me.

The English Premier League has many players who look like me. That is clear evidence that we can develop and nurture our football to global standards.

And we have the key raw material in football, the youth. In fact, we have an oversupply of talent. The percentage of Kenyans under 35 years is 80 per cent of the population! Compare that with European countries. We are very good at running, because there is money. Why are we not chasing the money in football? 

Foreign investors

It’s not just football; we can’t smell the money in golf with our 365 days of sunshine. Why do we complain of poverty, yet we can’t pursue the money where it is? It’s a real paradox. Think of foreign investors who flock here to make money?

In fact, we beg them to come and make money! I will ask, like late Njeri Riunge, the cofounder of Wananchi Online Ltd, one of Kenya’s pioneer internet providers, “why can’t we make that money ourselves?”

Maybe learning to smell money is not easy. How long does it take to train a police dog to sniff cocaine?  Curiously, we smell dirty money very quickly through corruption and deals.  Why can’t we make money in unusual places like football and other sports? 

Smelling money may be tacit knowledge. We can copy the US Constitution, but not their money-smelling or entrepreneurial skills. After 60 years as a nation, we should be focusing on generating more wealth, not sharing it. Food for thought: Why do we guard money on transit with guns and not babies going home from maternity wards?